Personally, I suffer varying levels of commitment to Garveyism. Sometimes I think, “That’s it! We all should leave and go (back) to Africa.” Other times, like right after the election of Barack Obama, I’m less sure as to the historic rights of a particular people to a particular land.

Thing is, sometimes I get into arguments (albeit brief) with those “We built this country!” Negroes that get all hostile with me because they think I’m suggesting taking away from them something that they consider to be their birthright.

Their problem, to me, is that they see the struggle for America as a struggle between Blacks and whites while anyone that knows anything about history knows that the struggle for America is, was, and will be between all the usurpers that currently occupy the joint and the land’s original inhabitants.

When Blacks get on that “We built this country!” kick, they remind me of that British officer in the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai.

A POW of the Japanese, the British officer is offended not only by his hellish treatment, but also by what he considers to be the inherent backwardness and inferiority of the Japanese and their technology.

The Japanese are trying to build a bridge and the British officer is so affronted by their efforts that he decides to demonstrate the overall superiority of British know-how and build the bridge for them.

The bridge he builds is a big success.

The problem comes when an allied strike against the Japanese threatens the bridge and the British officer desperately tries to save the bridge before realizing—almost too late—that he his indeed fighting against the Japanese and should be trying to destroy everything that helps them win the war including and especially the bridge.

So yeah, “We build this country!”

Now, in a strictly biblical sense, would America “let my people go”?

Of course not.

You shouldn’t at all be surprised to see that so many Black people end up with felony convictions that limit their ability to travel and their access to passports.

The myth that white people actually want us to go back to Africa is just that—a myth.

If we all were to take our Cadillacs, basketballs, rap music and our soon to surpass 1 trillion in spending power and suddenly flee the country, we’d finally see just desperate America is to keep us.